


serendipity

by GaloPamalo



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27258436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaloPamalo/pseuds/GaloPamalo
Summary: In another life, Byleth unites the three houses and ushers in a new age of peace. With the war over, Dimitri and Edelgard are left to pick up the pieces of relationship, to determine just who they want to be. Just what they want their bond to be.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 1
Kudos: 63
Collections: Dimigard Week





	1. Nicknames

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4: Nicknames
> 
> For that magical route where Byleth manages to keep everyone alive, how dare Int Sys make me have to pick who lives and who dies. This'll be a bit of a drabble series, not entirely chronological in order.

The path before Dimitri was a familiar one. Which was an odd thought to have another liege’s castle, let alone the Imperial Palace in Embarr. Their nations had been in war not even two years ago, and here he was, comfortably walking down a hallway lined with portraits of past emperors.

It was a sign of change and for once, Dimitri embraced it. Perhaps in another world, one in which Fódlan hadn’t been torn by war, this would have been the norm. In this one, it was a sign of a precarious peace, of a continent well on its way to healing. They were lucky Byleth had fostered a truce between their three fractions, uniting them to fight a common enemy instead of one another. To fight the present instead of their tangled pasts.

Dimitri smiled softly at the thought of his old professor. Truly, he feared how this war would have gone without her aid. The blood that stained his hands…

He didn’t want to think how much more would have flowed otherwise.

He didn’t want to think about _whose_ blood that would be.

Instead, he focused on the oak door before him, the royal Imperial Eagle inlaid in gold on the dark brown wood. Dimitri raised a hand, knocking on the door once. As a king, he could have just entered, but this was Edelgard’s private audience chamber and he could allow a little more delicacy here than in the public quarters.

“You may enter,” Edelgard said from within, her voice muffled. “Your majesty.”

Of course she knew it was him. Dimitri chuckled; with Hubert’s eyes, it was almost impossible to surprise her. He gently swung the door open, careful not to accidentally tear it off its hinges as he’d done before. Stepping inside the richly decorated room, he spotted Edelgard sitting on couch, Hubert across from her. Two cups of tea sat on the table between them, the glasses half-full. His eyes flickered from the cup to Hubert, before he settled on Edelgard. “Your imperial majesty, If I am intruding—”

“You are not,” Edelgard interrupted coolly. She picked up her cup, taking a small sip as she regarded Hubert. “Is there anything else?”

“Those were all the matters of the state,” he replied. For once, he spoke with full honesty, a tone only reserved for Edelgard and a select few. Unfortunately, Dimitri was not part of that group, and he only ever heard Hubert’s voice dripping with derision.

Then again, Dimitri could say he found the same changes in Edelgard. Despite her stiff posture, her expression was softer than usual, her words light. It was the same between him and Dedue, between Claude and Hilda—a bond that was hard to explain to outsiders.

“Very well then.” Edelgard set down her cup once more and clasped her hands on her lap. “Finish that other matter for me.”

“Of course.” A ghost of a smile passed Hubert’s lips as he stood. Turning to Dimitri, he gave him an amused look and bowed before leaving.

“I did not mean to interrupt,” Dimitri repeated, watching as the door shut with a heavy thud.

“You didn’t,” Edelgard repeated, gesturing at seat across from her. “Now, why are you here, Dimitri?”

It was not a nickname, it was nothing more than just dropping his formal title, but that too was a change between them. An intimacy he had once thought impossible. Dimitri relaxed slightly as he sank into the plush cushion. “I will be departing for home soon.”

She didn’t look surprised. “I see.”

“You knew,” Dimitri guessed, shaking his head with a chuckle. “Hubert?”

Edelgard smiled slyly. “Perhaps.”

Suddenly, Hubert’s earlier expression made sense. “Then that other matter was—”

“Organizing the court for your departure.” Edelgard leaned back in her seat. It was as close to relaxing as she ever allowed herself and Dimitri felt a surge of fondness over the fact that he was privy to it. “As well as selecting an appropriate gift.”

“I don’t require either of those.” If there was one thing he missed from their academy days, it was the fact that he used to travel to and fro without any of the pomp required by his station. Now every departure was a ceremony, every arrival a dance with etiquette. “I am fine with just saying goodbye to you and slipping out.”

“Slipping out? Like a thief in the night?” Edelgard frowned, leaning forward now. “Nonsense. This is an important part of healing the fracture between our nations—I can’t have your people thinking I’ve slighted you.”

It was a fair point. Almost every action they made was scrutinised, the war hawks ready to beat the drums of battle once more. Dimitri sighed. “Then I suppose I’ll have to accept. I never expected the ceremonial parts of our duties to be so tiring.”

“It’s something no one ever considers.” He wasn’t sure if he was imagining the hint of laughter in her voice. “Yet I’d rather tire from this than our previous engagements.”

“I am not sure—battle is only slightly worse than paperwork,” he replied, trying to pull that laughter out of her once more.

Her lips twitched, but she didn’t laugh this time. Instead, she clasped her hands on her lap once more, studying him with dark eyes. “When do you think you’ll return?”

“That…” Dimitri lowered his gaze, considering the question. Even spending a fortnight here every now and then came at a price and his shoulders sank. “I’m not sure. I can’t regulate all my duties to Ingrid and Dedue, after all.”

“No, I suppose you can’t.” She frowned, her fingers digging into her thighs. “It would be unfair to them.”

He gave a helpless smile as they fell into a quiet, contemplative silence. Perhaps if they were commoners—no, they might not have even met then. It was hard to imagine Edelgard as anyone but a noble, even if she had been low-born, she would have worked her way to the top.

She turned her head slightly, examining the large tapestry of Fódlan on the wall. He watched her instead. The distance between them was only a table’s width, and Dimitri was never certain if that was one he could cross. Was he misreading her disappointment, seeing his own hopes in her figure? The bond between them was as tentative as the one across Fódlan and he was afraid to break it.

In the end, he didn’t have to. Before he could say anything, Edelgard murmured, “I suppose I will have to visit you next time.”

Dimitri’s eyes widened. That wasn’t the response he’d expected. “You will?”

“It’ll improve relations if I visited.” She looked at him from the corner of her eye, her voice soft. “And it isn’t fair that you have to travel all the time.”

It wasn’t an _I’ll miss you_ , but it was close enough. Dimitri smiled. “I would like that, El.”

Her lips curled at the old nickname and perhaps the gap between them wasn’t as big as he’d feared.


	2. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It couldn't erase the injuries, but her touch on his eye was more healing than he'd expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Scars
> 
> One of my fav tropes, kissing scars and injuries >.<

Timid was not a word Dimitri associated with Edelgard, but there was no other way to describe the way her hands reached to the back of his head and gently tugged on the ribbon securing his eyepatch. Her hair tickled his jaw as she pulled back, the black fabric going with her before she let it flutter to onto her lap.

The couch in her bedroom was a small one, their legs bumping into each other as they sat. The space between them was only a few centimeters at most; if he wanted to, he could rest his hands on hers, interlace their overlapping fingers. At this range, she couldn’t avoid his eye, though his bangs did their best to hide it.

With a rarely showed gentleness, she brushed his bangs away, her hand cradling his head as she examined the ruined eye. Dimitri still couldn’t see anything through it, just vague shadows at best. Despite knowing that, the fact surprised him every time. If he closed his good eye now, he wouldn’t see whatever mixture of pity and disgust Edelgard’s expression held.

But he’d promised himself he’d face the future, whatever it held. He kept his gaze on hers, watching the way her brows furrowed, the way she bit her lip as her thumb brushed his forehead. Her touch was tender. Healing.

He hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted it until this moment.

“Does it hurt?” she asked, muted. There was no one else in her chambers, no other sounds to carry away her voice. Even the rain outside splattered against the windows soundlessly.

“It aches sometimes,” he answered honestly. Her expression didn’t change and he wondered if he could take it as a good sign. Edelgard brushed her thumb across his lid now and he closed his good eye, leaning into her touch. She smelled lightly of lilies and rainwater.

“I’m sorry, Dimitri,” she murmured, and it sounded almost like a prayer. To whom, he wasn’t sure—she hadn’t believed in the gods since they were children and he knew better than to believe any far-off deities would save them. “This should never have happened.”

“It’s not your fault, El,” he replied, reaching up to cover her small hand in his. “I was blind with revenge…it’s not a surprise this happened.”

“Still.” As usual, she didn’t back down. It was what made her a great leader and a frustrating conversationalist. “It is mine in part. I should have talked to you and Claude about my plans before. We could have worked together from the start.”

“It would have been easier,” he agreed, looking at her now. It was easier to read her these days. Dimitri liked to think it because he understood her better. “I am sure we would have less regrets.”

She nodded, lowering her gaze.

“Yet…” He curled his free hand in his lap as he remembered the past few years, the people he’d met, the changes he’d experienced. Dimitri wasn’t the person he’d been as a child, wasn’t the person he’d been in the academy, and he wasn’t sure who he’d be in this hypothetical scenario.

Would he still be haunted by his ghosts? Would he have realized just how much the people around him cared for him, the value of living in the present? Would he and Edelgard even be this close in that scenario, or would they be like two ships in the night, passing one another by?

It was a selfish thought, he knew. Yet, as Claude and Byleth had reminded him, it was okay to be selfish sometimes. The past couldn’t change, but there was no need to mourn the present endlessly.

He gripped her cool hand tightly, pressing it against his skin. “For all that I’ve done wrong, I do not regret where I am now. Who I am now. There is value in what we have gone through, El.”

She didn’t pull away. “Value…” Edelgard pursed her lips, considering it. “I am not sure I would agree, but I too am glad for where I am now.”

Edelgard brushed his blinded eye once more, a calculating expression crossing her face. Without warning, she leaned forward and gently kissed his lid. Dimitri forgot how to breathe, his lips parting in a soundless gasp as he watched her sit back, pulling her hand out of his grasp.

“And I am glad you are here with me too.”

Edelgard wasn’t an open person. She hadn’t been one for years and there were times when he wondered what had happened to the brown-haired girl of his memories. It had been only a short while, but he could still remember her laugh, the unguarded smile she’d given him.

This here was the closest to that girl she’d been, the most vulnerable she’d allowed herself. The tight lid on her emotions was looser than normal. In the privacy of her room, seated right next to her, this was the perfect time to ask the question that had been on his mind since he’d first spotted her in the academy.

It might be the only time to ask that question. He snatched her hand once more, ignoring her questioning look as he interlaced their fingers. “El…your hair…” He bit his cheek, there was no other way to go about this than bluntly asking. “Why is it white now? What happened over those years?”

Edelgard’s eyes widened, her body jerking back slightly, and he let go of her hand.

Maybe he had pressed too hard. Too early. Quickly, he retreated. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell—”

She gripped his hand back and shook her head. He could almost see her spine stiffen, the steel that had gotten her through every crisis in her life aiding her here. “It’s fine.” Edelgard turned her head slightly, her gaze now on imperial banner hanging in her room. “It was…an experiment.”

That wasn’t the answer he’d expected. “Experiment?”

“A hard one. A cruel one.” With her other hand, she gently tugged a strand of her hair. In the dim light, it almost seemed to glow. “Lysithea endured it as well. There is only so much shock a person can take before their body starts to break down.”

His breath caught in his throat, unable to imagine it. Anger, then grief filled him, his arm trembling as he gripped her hand tighter. “El…”

As she spoke, her voice grew more and more detached. “The second crest, the scars, they’re all from that. They were…the reason I started it all.”

She rolled up a sleeve and turned her wrist over. In the flickering candlelight, he could just make out the scars on her bare arms, the signs of torture well-hidden by her long-sleeved shirts. “I might regret many things from the war, but destroying those monsters is not one of them.”

There had been no pity or disgust in her earlier touch, just pain recognizing pain. He stared at the old injuries, aware that her eyes were on him, that this next moment could make or break them.

Ever so gently, Dimitri raised her hand and pressed a kissed on the scar on her wrist. On her elbow. On her upper arm. He marked each of them with his lips, branding them with his love. It wouldn’t be enough to heal them. Her touch hadn’t erased the ache from his eye either.

But it was a start. He kissed the corner of her eye, tasting the salt from her unshed tears.

And a start was more than either of them had expected in their lifetimes.


	3. Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dimitri never thought they'd make it to seventy, yet here they were, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Future
> 
> I just really like old couples, ahahaha.

Dimitri’s knees ached. It was, he knew, a sign of age, a marker of a long-lived life that he couldn’t avoid. Magic could heal wounds and prolong lifespans, but for all of Lysithea’s and Annette’s research, there was nothing that could undo being old.

“The knees again?” Edelgard asked, her eyes as sharp as ever. Her voice has a soft, raspy quality to it now; it charmed him all the same. With her hand hooked in the crook of his elbow, she cocked her head slightly as she looked up at him.

“Nothing too bad,” he lied. He was better at that now; it was amazing what several decades of politics could do to a man. The only thing he hadn’t yet learned was how to ignore Claude’s jabs. There weren’t enough years for anyone to pull a fast one on him, aside from perhaps Hilda.

Edelgard pursed her lips, not buying it for a second. She always saw right through him. Bending forward slightly, she studied his legs. “Perhaps we should return.”

“I can last a walk in the garden.” Dimitri squeezed her hand, smiling softly. Around them, roses, lilies, and other brightly-coloured flowers bloomed around the small mansion they called home. Even the foreign plants, brought over as gifts from royalty abroad, gave off sweet scents as they opened their petals. They had maybe a few more weeks to enjoy this before the cold arrived.

He didn’t want to waste a minute of it cooped up inside. They had missed out on enough time as it was.

“You know you’re not as young as you used to be.” Concern laced her voice as she straightened, and Edelgard regarded him with a deep frown. “It would be foolish to injure yourself over this—we can walk another day.”

She was just as stubborn as he was; a source of many fights. But it was a bright sunny day and he didn’t want to squabble it away. “We can compromise.”

“How so?” she questioned. Even after abdicating her throne, she still acted like the Emperor. It was in the way she held herself, in her commanding tone and ramrod straight posture. The small things that wouldn’t leave, especially not after a few years in retirement.

Then again, there were times when he still felt like a king, It was engraved in him now, carved into his bones. He pointed at the tree stump further down the path. “I can rest on that until I recover.”

“Hmm…” She hummed, considering it, before giving a regal nod. “Very well. I will allow it.”

“Thank you, your highness,” he teased, enjoying the way her ears turned red. Old age had softened them both, and he liked finding the places where her hard edges had dulled, where Emperor Edelgard had faded into just El.

“I can still send you back,” she muttered. Nevertheless, she guided him to the stump and helped ease him down on it.

“My apologies. It won’t happen again, your majesty.” Another lie. She glared at him.

He leaned back slightly, closing his eye. The warm sunlight caressed his face, the heat relaxing his joints slightly, and he sighed. There were times when he missed living in his homeland, but now that his skin was paper-thin, he just couldn’t handle the cold anymore.

Sylvain liked to tease him about it, wondering just where his strong king had gone. Dimitri liked to point that he was still spry enough to spar, if Sylvain wanted to.

A gentle breeze blue, tousling his hair, and Dimitri opened his eye. By a rose bush nearby, Edelgard brushed her hair behind her ear as she smelled a bloom. Her white hair gave her dignified look these days, while the only good thing he could say about his is that they matched now. In all honesty, Edelgard looked lovelier every day, though she never believed him when he said that.

_It is just another sign of weakness,_ she’d told him once.

_It is more than that,_ he’d argued back. Every wrinkle was a sign of another year she had lived, a year that almost never was. Even his aching joints were a relief—he would die in his bed, aching and complaining, instead of out on the battlefield.

Despite the wars of their youth, the troubles and arguments, they’d made it to seventy. They’d made it together, and he didn’t know if there was anything more beautiful than watching the sunrise with her, their hands clasped in the quiet dawn.

Noticing his stare, Edelgard raised a brow. “What’re you thinking of?”

“You,” he answered honestly.

She smiled, pleased. He used to have to fight for her smiles, but now they came all too easily. Walking over to him, she held out a hand. “Shall we go?”

He clasped it firmly. “Of course.”


	4. nightmares and constellations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dimitri screamed in his sleep, clawing at his pillow as he thrashed about from some unseen nightmare. Edelgard knew that sound. She’d had the same nightmares, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6 // Forgiveness
> 
> Ahaha, a month late (that’s fashionable, right?) I am finally getting around to finishing it all up. Perhaps I am in need of forgiveness instead of these two?

A scream jolted Edelgard awake. Even if she had been a heavy sleeper, it would have been impossible to ignore that sound. Heart racing, she instinctively reached for the dagger under her pillow as she scanned her surroundings. Dimitri’s quarters in Faerghus were unfamiliar to her still, and in the dark they were more so. With only a sliver of moonlight making it through his windows, even the furniture gave off strange shapes.

Tense, she reached beside her to shake Dimitri. “Wake up,” she whispered, eyes darting as she searched for movement. She was used to assassins, though she thought none were so stupid to attack them together. Even in her state of undress, Edelgard could still snap a man's neck.

Another scream tore through the night and Edelgard froze as she realized it wasn’t a mysterious attacker. No, it was the man to her left. _Dimitri._ Looking down, her eyes widened as she took in his pale, sweaty skin. Soft cries and grunts escaped his parted lips, before accumulating into yet another desperate yell. His hand clawed at his pillow, nails tearing through the soft fabric.

It was like looking in a mirror. She’d had nightmares like that too.

“Dimitri.” Edelgard grabbed his shoulder, shaking him. Unconsciously, he grabbed her wrist, his long fingers digging into her flesh until she could feel it in her bones. Even in his sleep, he was too strong. Before he could break her arm, she slapped him. There was no point in being careful about it, she needed him awake. “Dimitri!”

His eyes flew open, another wordless scream escaping his lips. Panicked, he tugged her down, crushing her in his arms. At least they were in his room, not hers—it only took him seconds to realize he was safe, that his nightmares were just that. Edelgard waited till his short, quick breaths calmed down, till his heaving chest was slowed to a gentle rise.

Once his panting stopped, she lifted her head. “Are you fully awake now?”

“El.” His bloodshot eye widened as he noticed their positions. As usual, he gave his emotions away too easily, and she could tell by his soft squeak that a bright blush spread across his face and up to the tip of his ears. It was funny how he still reacted like this, as though it were the first time she’d entered his chambers and not the _n_ th. As though he hadn’t been the one to tear her clothes off just hours ago. Hastily, he let go of her. “I’m sorry—you’re, that is…I didn’t…”

“It’s fine.” She’d never admit it aloud, but there was something endearing about the way he got flustered.

“I’m sorry.” Pained, he slowly sat up, bringing her up with him. His warm hand cupped her cheek and she shivered. “Did I hurt you?”

“You didn’t.” The lie rolled off her tongue easily. Edelgard partially shifted off him, getting a little distance before subtly massaging her wrist. It didn’t seem to be broken, just bruised. Luckily, it was dark, or he’d notice it more. He had enough weighing his shoulders without her adding this to the mix. “A nightmare?”

“Ghosts,” he corrected, running a hand through his golden mane. The clouds drifted by the moon, taking away what little light they had, and she couldn’t make out his expression. “It’s hard to let go.”

That she could understand. Her own grudges and regrets still stung her, no matter how much time passed. Her dreams were often filled with red. “It is.”

“I thought they were gone now but they’re just…quieter.” Subdued, he curled up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. You should rest, you must be tired.”

She clicked her tongue and moved next to him. “It’s fine.” She wasn’t one for comfort, but Hubert had done this to her enough times that she knew the right actions now. Wrapping an arm around him, she pulled his head down till it rested on her shoulders.

“El?” Despite his confusion, he didn’t pull away.

“I’ve always wanted to see the dawn in Faerghus,” she replied, pulling a pillow behind her as she made herself comfortable.

Dimitri relaxed slightly. “It’s hours away.”

“Then I can watch the stars till then.” While his stubbornness was one of the few reasons they were together now, it was also annoying at times like these. With her other hand, she gently ruffled his hair. “I imagine your constellations have different stories than mine. Tell me them.”

He chuckled wetly in her shoulder, placing a trembling kiss on her neck before mumbling. “There’s the shield of Faerghus.”

Edelgard snorted. “Very self-important, I see.”

He reached down to grab her right hand, his fingers tracing nonsensical patterns on her palm. His voice sounded a little stronger as he replied, “The Empire’s constellations are the same. There’s the eagle, right?”

“Perhaps,” she acknowledged lightly. Closing her eyes, she rested her head on his. “What’s another?”


	5. a change in tempo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After starting a war, Edelgard had never expected to be back at the monastery, dancing with Dimitri of all people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5 // Past
> 
> Last one for this AU, for now at least. Onto the next AU I planned for this 'week'.

Edelgard never expected to be back at the monastery. Standing stiffly at the side of the ballroom, she scanned her surroundings with a careful eye, taking note of where the decorations hid the cracks in the wall or the scorch marks on the pillars from the war. No, when she’d left the academy seven years ago, she had only planned to stand on the rubble of this building, not inside it.

It seemed the best plans were often waylaid. For all of her and Hubert’s plans, she hadn’t been able to foresee the wrench Byleth would throw into her revolution. Edelgard glanced at the center of the room, where Claude and Byleth were slowly waltzing. They smiled as they quietly chatted, no doubt planning their future together.

If she had had her way, they wouldn’t even be standing now. She had steeled her heart to it years ago, but now she could only shake her head at her past self. For all of her rage at the rigid ways of nobility, she had been far too stiff with her own plans, refusing to work with any other.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” a quiet voice said to her left and Edelgard looked up as Dimitri approached.

Another person she’d prepared herself to kill. A not-small part of her was glad that she had failed. Edelgard inclined her head slightly, greeting him. “I wasn’t sure I’d come either.”

“Then I guess tonight is surprise for both of us.” Dimitri chuckled, coming to a stop next to her. It was odd to see him in a regular formal suit for once, his fur-trimmed cloak nowhere to be seen. His golden hair was pinned up, out of his face, and unlike the lion she’d fought on the battlefield, he had a regal air about him.

“I suppose so.” Edelgard relaxed slightly. She wasn’t quite sure where she stood with him. Her dagger still weighed heavily only her belt, her memories of their shared summer like a hazy dream. She did not know the boy. She didn’t even know the teen; their school years were spent missing each other like two ships in the night.

No, she only knew the man and the tenuous peace they both held.

“I have a lot to learn,” she sighed.

Dimitri glanced at her curiously. “What do you mean?”

“About peace.” Edelgard watched as her former classmates danced, different houses intermingling as they did. Dorothea and Ingrid, Ferdinand and Lorenz, Ignatz and Annette. They did not have the worries that held her back, freely swapping partners without red-tinged memories of the war. “I do not think I am suited for it.”

“You are,” Dimitri replied, more confident than she felt. She glanced at him, noting the colour of his skin. He looked healthier than the last time she’d seen him months ago, smoothening out the peace treaty after Byleth’s coronation.

She dismissed his words for the paltry pleasantry it was. “I doubt it. It does seem to suit you well.”

“No more than it would you. I have made my mistakes, and now is the time to rectify them. It’s all I can do for those lost.” He turned to her, his eye kind. “It is the same for you, I am certain of it.”

Edelgard wasn’t sure where that baseless confidence came from. They had only interacted a handful of times in the past two years, certainly not enough to erase the five years of war or the swords they’d held at each other’s necks.

His memories of their shared past was far clearer than hers. She wondered if that had anything to do with it.

The music stopped, and couples parted as new dance partners were found. Dimitri eyed the floor, his jaw tightening slightly as though he was preparing himself for something. Taking a deep breath, he turned to her, his hand out. “Care for a dance?”

Edelgard raised a brow. “I didn’t expect this proposition from you.”

“Me neither.” He chuckled, his hand still out. “Yet…the point of this ball is to heal past wounds. To bring all of our nations closer. We should lead the way.”

It didn’t sound like an excuse, though she was certain it was one. She glanced up at his eye, confident and clear in a way she’d never seen it before, not even in her faint memories of childhood. It was just a dance. He had a point.

Slowly, she put her hand in his and nodded. “Very well then.”

Dimitri smiled. Gently, he tugged her forward until they were at the edge of the dancefloor. Turning to her, he stiffly rested an arm on her hip. Edelgard rolled her eyes, pulling him closer. “Come now, it’s a waltz. You cannot stand that far away.”

“Right.” His ears were red, his body honest in the way his words weren’t. It was endearing, perhaps, though she wasn’t sure what she thought about it yet. Her own feelings were even further away—her heart had always been a distant second to her goals, and that much hadn’t changed even now.

No, that wasn’t true. He had held his hand out to her in the battlefield two years ago, and despite herself, she’d taken his hand then too. Her lips curved into a soft smile as she took the lead. “I see your dancing hasn’t improved.”

Dimitri stared at her, his eye wide, before taking a deep breath. He tightened his grip and relaxed his muscles. “It has.”

(By the end of the night, she had to agree he had improved. However, he was still no match for her.)


End file.
